Chapter 1523 - 33: Blitz (16)

Chapter 1523: Chapter 33: Blitz (16)

New Era 2064 was destined to be chaotic and tumultuous from the start.

War, like a hellish firework drenched in blood in the vast universe. It is brilliant and captivating. At the beginning of 2064, it finally fully blossomed, spreading its blood-red petals and tendrils all around, gradually shining dazzlingly, unbearably bright.

Humanity’s interstellar map had long been engulfed in a sea of fire. Cities reduced to ashes, skyscrapers turned into collapsed ruins, hundreds of billions of people displaced and homeless.

The suffering, at the moment of national calamity, was beyond words.

Some died in despair. Others survived in growing desperation, clutching hopes as thin as grains of sand, watching them slip through their fingers bit by bit.

They hid in the rubble-like cities, or drifted in the deathly silent cosmos.

They were waiting.

The war had reached a critical point. The camps on both sides were engaged in decisive battles in the Karsdon Star River, Ryan Battlefield, and Southeast Star Domain to determine the direction of the war.

No one knew when a victory would suddenly emerge, then sweep around like a spark in gasoline, unstoppable.

Under the shadow of war, this spark perhaps was already shining.

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Leifeng Star, in the command hall of the Jiepeng 25 Army Group, silence reigned.

The staff carefully lowered their voices and footsteps, quickly answering whenever the phone rang, fearing to disturb the elderly man with the gray face on the command platform.

Just over twenty minutes ago, the various major positions in the northern passage of Eagle Mountain had successively fallen. On the central control console screen, the cursors representing various frontline combat units extinguished one after another.

Soon after, news came from the front that no one could accept.

The bandit army vanguard had seized Feisha Valley just as the rushing 2511 and 2512 divisions were still nearly thirty kilometers away!

Their main forces continued to advance through Feisha Valley towards the north!

Everyone understood what this news meant.

This meant that the bandit army’s main force’s advance was not delayed in the slightest. It also meant that Beize Xian’s meticulously crafted net had captured nothing but a painful defeat.

Beize sat quietly in his chair, quietly looking at his hands, no longer on the command computer.

After forty years in the military, it was the first time he realized his hands had grown so old. Protruding knuckles, slack skin, winding veins, and those loathed age spots, looked so unfamiliar.

Over thirty years ago, these hands were still young.

Always neatly trimmed nails, slender and strong fingers, nimble joints... they drew lines on the simulation computer with composure and entered commands effortlessly, conquering the enemy and winning approval from smiling and nodding officers.

But now, they’ve aged so much.

They’re trembling. An hour ago, they began tasting failure on the command computer again and again, overcome repeatedly by an irresistible sense of helplessness.

The plans they made constantly had errors. The lines they drew couldn’t guide the equally frantic frontline units to a clear path. They issued command after command, attempting to change the course of the battle, but the results were contrary to their wishes.

Beize wanted to stand up but found his body had no strength left. All his organs no longer listened to his commands.

He suddenly recalled forty years ago, when he graduated from the Military Academy, full of ambition at the moment of reporting to the troops.

Back then, he wore a crisp uniform, sitting in a flying car, watching the soldiers lined up running on the training field flash past outside the window.

Back then, climbing the steps leading to the headquarters, listening to the sounds of neat footsteps and slogans behind him, he thought the whole world was under his feet.

Back then, he was young and proud.

But now, he was no longer young. His pride, too, had gone with the wind at this moment.

In his ears were the constant notifications from the command computer, on the screen in front of him, rows of requests scrolling rapidly.

"2nd Battalion of the 2531 Division requests authorization to break through."

"1st Battalion of the 2523 Division requests authorization to break through."

"Repeating, my unit has reached the designated assembly point, found nothing, nothing. Repeating... nothing here..."

"Command headquarters, please reconsider the battle plan, my unit cannot bypass eastward, the enemy has formed an encirclement against us, we must break through westward!"

"Command headquarters, the Second Battalion has been completely wiped out, my unit is under heavy attack by the enemy, and we’ve lost contact with the regiment headquarters, requesting combat guidance."

These texts flickered on the screen. The slightly delayed sound came from the SkyNet control consoles in front of the pallid-faced staff, flooding into their ears.

Beize listened expressionlessly. His mouth trembled, a sarcastic smile appearing.

He had originally planned to command these units to attack on multiple fronts, exhausting the bandit army’s command system capacity, catching them north of Eagle Mountain and slowing their advance. But unexpectedly, it had become self-entrapment.

From the tenth minute after the battle broke out, his command system had collapsed due to the opponent’s massive tactical changes.

Despite his frantic attempts to accelerate the pace, despite mobilizing all the staff in the command department to individually handle the planning and simulation, the opponent’s seemingly endless multi-line command capability still gradually controlled the entire battle rhythm.